Compliance to compassion: how COVID-19 changed the way educators use social media to collaborate with families

The COVID-19 global pandemic challenged our teaching pedagogy across all age levels, forcing a rapid shift to remote instruction. Included in the rapidly changing education environment was the delivery of early childhood education (ECE). ECE was notably impacted, particularly in Victoria, Australia, which became known as the most locked down city in the world. This study investigated how ten female educator-participants used social media for collaboration with families both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using qualitative methodology and a Third Space theoretical framework, data was generated by semi-structured interviews and a postscript, analysed via thematic analysis. The findings revealed themes of ease of social media use and access, as well as compliance. The study highlighted a significant shift from social media usage in a compliance-driven culture (pre-) to a pedagogy of care (post-pandemic), creating the potential for social media to facilitate more supportive and empathetic educational practices in strengthening family partnerships.